Housekeeper proudly displays Water C.H.A.M.P. materials at the Holiday Inn Express.
The District’s award-winning Water Conservation Hotel And Motel Program (Water C.H.A.M.P.) reached a major milestone in July when the Holiday Inn Express Hotel &Suites on North Dale Mabry Highway in Tampa signed up as its 300th hotel.
Water C.H.A.M.P. is the District’s linens and towels reuse program, which began in September 2002 as a pilot project in the Pinellas- Anclote River basin and has now expanded to include every basin within the District.
There are 959 hotels and motels throughout the District’s 16-county region, with 309 currently participating in the program.
“Reaching this milestone proves that hotel managers recognize the value of protecting our region’s water resources,” said Samantha Farkas, Water C.H.A.M.P. coordinator.
Debbie Grenier, general manager for the Holiday Inn Express Hotel &Suites and the Comfort Inn, had been looking for a program like Water C.H.A.M.P. to implement in her hotels when District staff called her. Grenier says many hotel guests welcome the program.
“We have one customer who stays with us all the time and usually tells the front desk staff not to change his linens during the stay,” said Grenier. “He’s ecstatic that we’re a Water C.H.A.M.P. hotel.”
In addition to signing up the two properties she manages, Grenier also convinced the general manager of the Best Western Waterfront in Punta Gorda to come on board.
The participating hotels and motels account for more than 30,000 rooms, reaching nearly 7.4 million people a year, based on an average 68 percent occupancy rate.
“Depending on their size, hotels and motels may use more than 20,000 gallons of water per day,” said Farkas.
While most hotels and motels average 150 gallons per occupied room per day, some use up to 200 gallons per day. Becoming a Water C.H.A.M.P. property can save up to 50 gallons per occupied room per day.
Based on these calculations, Water C.H.A.M.P. can save more than 400,000 gallons of water a day. In one year, the savings can be nearly 150 million gallons of water.
Since the program began in 2002, Water C.H.A.M.P. has saved approximately 979 million gallons of water.
For more information on Water C.H.A.M.P. or to add your hotel or motel, please contact Samantha Farkas at 1-800-423-1476, ext. 4782